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Dahknarg
Location Type: City Continent: Thestra Map Cell: -22,25 Overview Dahknarg Geography and climate Mountainous with thin forests and vegitation. Resource rich. Demographics Home of the Vulmane. Faction Vendors Crafting *Crafting Instructor: *Crafting Utilities Supplier: *Crafting Equipment Supplier: *Work Order Taskmasters **Refining: **Finishing: **Non-Specified / Special: *Crafting Tables **Artificer: **Blacksmith: **Outfitter: **Assembly: Diplomacy General Banker: Yes Vaults: Thestran Mailbox: Yes Missives: Telon Global Exchange: Instructors Adventuring *Instructors **Light Fighter: Yes **Heavy Fighter: Yes **Spellcaster: Yes **Healer: Yes Crafting *Instructors **Artificer: **Blacksmith: **Outfitter: *Masters **Carver: **Thatcher: **Mineralogist: Diplomacy *Instructors **Diplomacy Instructor: Yes Developer Comments A zone of Thestra containing the Vulmane town of the same name. City of the Vulmane on the continent of Thestra. Between the highlands where Halgarad is located and the High Elf city of Leth Nurae. Terrain is described as "heavy brush" and "hills everywhere," while the city consists of "leather tents" and has a "rough spiked wall" surrounding it. Pages 42–43, Computer Games magazine, June 2006. 6/6/06- Jeff Damron, Artist: Dahknarg is the starting village for the Vulmane, so you can either start here when you enter Vangaurd or this village could be used as a hub later in the game for players when traveling to higher level areas of content. Dahknarg I knew was going to be a challenge since the version of Dahknarg in the screenshots is a complete re-work of earlier versions of Dahknarg. This was the 2nd or 3rd time that I personally had re-worked the Vulmane village since I started Sigil. The earlier versions and re-works were mainly just a new village layout and some new objects here and there. It was just never quite enough so we wanted to give them a permanent home this time and give them their own style. Their previous style was leaning heavily towards American Indian with the style of shaders and their teepee style homes. This was something we very much wanted to get away from. One of the biggest things we wanted to convey was that this was the permanent home of the Vulmane. Early versions of Dahknarg really lacked that sense of permanency and looked more as if they just set up a few tents here and there as a temporary camp. Part of their story says that the Vulmane were very nomadic over the years but having gotten tired of moving around, they set up a permanent village, complete with a protective border. We were also trying to get away from their previous American Indian style and show that these guys are barbaric in the way of a wolf pack, and are very naturalistic. They use the resources around them to create their environment, not really taking into account every day comforts. I hope it’s easy to see the permanency of the village when walking into Dahknarg. Things like the protective outer wooden walls to the placement of guard towers to the market area add to this. The environment surrounding them also shows how they would have spent a lot of time picking out the best spot for their home. Details like the permanent water hole/stream that is within the village and the sheer rock cliffs that are around the village would help protect them from attacks. They also have a height advantage with the varying height levels within the village. The placement of guard towers allow them a 360 degree view surrounding them, allowing them to see enemies approaching. There were many appealing parts about the area that helped them pick this spot. Using hollowed out trees as bridges shows their tendency to use the environment around them to create what they need. Some boulders would have been too large and heavy for them to move, so instead, they painted them with symbols to make them a part of the village. We show their animalistic nature by getting rid of things like doors to their homes and setting up a fighting pit near the center of the village where the Vulmane can work out their differences much like a wolf pack would do to determine dominance within groups. We got away from the American Indian style by giving the Vulmane some color and their own simple symbols. Instead of just sewn together animal hides on tents, we gave them more colorful dyed hides that have symbols on them. The most difficult part for was giving these guys their own unique style but having to re-use assets like the already made tent – teepee style buildings. Our concept guys were so swamped at the time that I got very little concept for the area which also made it more difficult for me, as things are always easier when you have concept. It’s easier to elaborate on an already set concept than to come up with everything from scratch. My favorite part really is probably the hollowed out trees used as bridges. Design really wanted a motte and bailey setup for the area where the Chieftains Hall resides which required the use of a bridge. I tried a few different structurally created ideas that didn’t seem to fit them. I then had an idea for the hollowed out trees one day and it came together nicely I thought and fit the Vulmane. I was able to use them in a couple of other areas of the village also. They are quite fun to run across. What else I love about Dahknarg is the shader work. Shaders came late in the game for Dahknarg so everything I was creating was using old shaders temporarily. I was actually not feeling the place at all and was worried it was not going to work until the new shaders started going on. It really changed the look of the place completely and made me feel a lot better. Props go out to Willie, one of our shader artists, for making my art look better. Christian Akesson, Senior Artist: The Vulmane live in this area. This race has gone through several iterations through the years and we ended up in a place where the race works functionally on a game play and an aesthetically pleasing level. For the final iteration, I was responsible for laying the village out and creating the terrain. With the terrain and how the village was integrated, I wanted to convey a sense of harmony between the race and their surroundings. It should feel like a peaceful place as the race has little or no internal conflict. Places that are laid on different levels of the terrain, I find much more interesting so I tried to that whenever possible. I think that all the elements have to work together in order to convey a mood, only the big picture matters. If either element breaks, I think that the idea breaks. Large elements to the overall picture though is that the architecture works with the surroundings, which in this case it does with wooden structures taken from the surrounding woods and hides that was hunted in the same forest. Another huge element is the lighting and weather settings. From a terrain standpoint, the biggest challenge was to lay out the place tightly enough that it doesn’t become cumbersome to get between places. The most important thing, that I think worked out really well on this particular place, is that the artist that builds the architecture and places down a lot of elements like objects in the area (Jeff Damron in this case) goes back and forth with the terrain artist. I would constantly modify and tweak the terrain, to work with the objects and architecture. My favorite feature of this place is the bridges connecting to the chieftain’s hall and the watch tower, that worked out really well with great objects from Jeff and they work well with the terrain. I also really like how Jeff connected through the placing of rocks, the village watchtower area to the giant statue area which I built as a separate point of interest months ago. William Wat, Senior Artist Dahknarg is the starting city of the vulmane, wolf people. The once nomadic tribe has now settled down in the greenish/yellow hills of Dahknarg. Originally, the feel of the area was very Native American, when I was told to give Dahknarg a face-lift, it was pretty general, “make it look cool and different”. Trying to add more color, I went with complimentary colors to the base materials found in the area. Since they were surrounded by redwoods and yellow weeds on the terrain, I used a lot of greens, purples, and yellows. The area still retained some of its original flavor, I just added a little more design. From Vanguard Saga of Heroes, a Wikia wiki. From Vanguard Saga of Heroes, a Wikia wiki. Further reading External links Category:Locations